Tympan-removing device for printing-presses



C. L. POST.

TYMPAN REMOVING DEVICE FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLICATION FILED NOV-28, 1919.

1,371,052, Patented Mar. 8, 192k.

NORRIS PETERS. INC.. LIIHQ. WASMINGION D C UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

CLAUDE L. POST, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

Application filed November 28, 1919. Serial No. 341,059.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLAUDE L. Posr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tympan-Removing Devices for Printing-Presses, of which the following is a description.

My inventionis adapted for use in connection with printing presses in WhlCh a tympan or padding is prepared and mamtained upon the platen or cylinder of the press to secure the proper effect as the type is pressed upon the paper resting upon the tympan. The object of my invention 1s to produce a device of the character described that shall be very simpleand effective 1n its operation and economical in its construction. To this end my invention consists 1n the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tympan on the platen of a press, with my 1mprovement in position thereon.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the two parts constituting my improved clamping means.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the parts in position substantially as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse view in line l-4 of Fig. 3, dotted lines indicating the position as the clamping frames of the platen lifted to permit the removal of the tympan, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detailed view illustrating the gaging means whereby the tympan may be placed in substantially the same position on the platen that it previously occupied, for further use.

In substantially all printing presses, what is commonly termed a tympan, is made up of a plurality of sheets of suitable material carefully prepared and positioned one upon the other and provided with guiding and gaging means for the sheets to be printed. This tympan marked on the drawings, 1, is positioned upon the cooperating platen A, or its equivalent part of a printing press and is firmly and reliably held in place thereon by means of clamping members 22, pivotally supported at the ends as at 33. In

general practice a separate tympan is prepared for each job. 4 indicates protruding guiding and gaging elements carried by the tympan, and 5 indicates the usual resilient pleces carried thereby, beneath which the edge of the sheets to be printed is slipped to properly maintain the sheets in position during the printing operation.

In practice it requires considerable time by an experienced mechanic to prepare a tympan for a printing press operation. My invention provides means whereby the same tympan can be used over several times, being removed from, and replaced in its position upon the platen without injury, several times. In order to secure satisfactory results it must be placed in substantially the same relative position upon the platen each t1me. In the preferred form shown in the drawlngs, I employ clamping means comprising the cooperating members 6 and 7. These two parts are adapted to be firmly secured together at their ends, in order to be readily disconnected from or connected to one another.

In the operation, as illustrated, the part 6 is positioned below the tympan while the part 7 is placed above the same and the two parts are then reliably secured together. In the preferred form the member 6 is provided with a tongued or T shaped projection 8 adapted to cooperate with a bifurcated or forked extension 9 on the part 7. At the other end the part 6 is preferably provided with a clamping bolt 10 pivotally connected to the end of the clamp and provided with a thumb screw 11, or equivalent means for the purpose. The bolt is adapted to be positioned within the slot 12 in the end of the part 7. The part 6 is also provided with depending parts 13 and 14, or the equivalent means, which when the parts are placed on the platen are adapted to come in contact with the ends of the bow clamps 2 or some other fixed parts upon the platen, by means of which the exact repositioning of the tympan upon the platen may be accurately gaged.

In operation, when it is desired to remove the tympan from the body, one of the clamps 2, as for illustration, the one at the right hand in Fig. 4 is raised releasing that edge of the tympan from the body. This edge is carefully elevated and the part 6 placed thereunder in proper relative position, when the clamp may then be replaced back to its original position. The part 6 is moved back substantially as shown in Fig. 3 with the downward extensions 13 and 14 contacting with the ends of the clamps 2, or with an equivalent fixed part on the platen.

The cooperating clamp member 7 is placed in position by engaging the fork 9 with the T head 8, then pressing it down in position. The bolt 10 is placed in the slot 12 and the thumb screws suitably tightened. WVhen this is done the tympan is firml and reliably clamped between the two. he clamps 2-2 may then be raised substantially as shown in Fig. 4, when the tympan may be removed and placed in a suitable case for the same, or if preferred, hung on racks arranged for that purpose. When a duplication of the job is required, the operation just described is reversed and the tympan is thereupon replaced in its original position upon the platen.

When in the claims I mention a platen, I wish to be understood as also including a cylinder or equivalent part on which the tympan is secured.

It is obvious that after this description of my invention various and immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from the spirit of my invention, hence do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form and construction shown further than is set forth in the claims hereto attached.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A device of the kind described comprising clamping members adapted to be placed on opposite sides of a tympan or the like intermediate its ends and means for securing the clamping members together at their ends to enable the tympan to be handled as a unit.

2. In a device of the kind described, a clamping member adapted to be secured to a tympan, in combination with a printing press platen, and cooperating gaging means, whereby the former may be removed from and replaced upon the platen in substantially its former relative position.

3. In a device of the kind described, a clamping member adapted to be secured to a tympan, in combination with a printing press platen, and cooperating gaging means carried by the clamping member and thetympan, whereby the former may be removed from and replaced upon the platen in substantially its former relative position. 4:. In a device of the kind described, clamping means comprising a lower member carrying near its end gaging means arranged to determine its proper position upon the platen of a press, a cooperating upper member and means for reliably securing the ends of the clamping members together.

5. In a device of the kind described, clamping means comprising a lower member provided with depending parts formed thereon arranged to contact with a cooperating part on a printing press, in combination with a cooperating clamping member, means for pivotally connecting one end of the two parts together, and means for detachably connecting the other ends of the members.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CLAUDE L. POST. Witnesses:

JOHN W. HILL, BERTHA HARTMANN. 

